Kaylea Titford: Obese girl left in squalor, court told

A 16-year-old girl who died after becoming morbidly obese was found by a paramedic to be living in "squalid conditions," a court has heard.

Kaylea Titford had spina bifida and had been bed-ridden in the months before her death.

At Mold Crown Court, her father Alun Titford, from Newtown, Powys, denied manslaughter by gross negligence.

Kaylea had numerous infected sores from living in a dirty room, the court heard.

Some readers may find details in this case distressing.

Her mother Sarah Lloyd Jones previously admitted the same charge of manslaughter by gross negligence.

The court has previously heard prosecution claims she was left living in conditions "unfit for any animal".

Paramedic Gareth Wyn Evans testified that he attended Kaylea's home in October 2020, after her family called 999 saying she would not wake up.

He said he found her in a "cluttered, untidy and dirty" room and after pulling back her duvet was "hit with a smell I can't describe".

"It was a damp smell, it was an horrific smell as if something had died," Mr Evans told the jury. "My initial thought was gangrene or putrefaction of some description.

"The smell made me retch, it was one which required me to get out and get some fresh air," he added.

The jury has already been told Kaylea had used a wheelchair from a young age due to paralysis from spina bifida.

She was morbidly obese, weighing nearly 23 stone (146 kg) when she died.

A statement from another paramedic at the scene was read to the jury.

Katie Griephan said she noticed incontinence pads wrapped around Kaylea's legs "which suggested there was something wrong with her legs, like ulcers or infection as if something was leaking".

She also described Kaylea's room as "unclean, unkempt and neglected".

"There were food cartons and rubbish from McDonald's everywhere. There was a full cake in a box on a table in front of the bed," she wrote.

Another ambulance service colleague Maggie Lloyd provided a further statement.

"There was stuff everywhere, it was a mess," she said. "There was a madeira cake in a box on a table along with books, papers and magazines.

"The smell was horrendous, it caused me to move out of the way even with my PPE mask on."

PC Liam Donovan was one of the officers who arrived at Kaylea's house on 10 October 2020. He took footage with his body worn camera of her room, and some of that was shown to the jury.

He described plastic milk bottles filled with urine all around the room, and there were faeces on the bathroom floor.

When undertakers lifted her body from the bed he said the smell was "horrific, the most unpleasant smell I've ever encountered".

He saw maggots moving on the bed. He said: "The smell made me feel physically sick. It's the only time I can recall in my career where I've felt as if I was going to be sick there and then."

PC David Wilkinson, also at the house the morning Kaylea was found dead, felt sad about the situation.

He said: "I didn't want to see what I saw, and I've done everything I can to forget what I've seen."

He told the court he removed Kaylea's socks for the crime scene photographer.

He said: "The fabric of the sock felt fused to Kaylea's skin like a fresh plaster."

Her feet and ankles were discoloured and swollen.

"What I saw wasn't recognisable as a human foot," PC Wilkinson said.

He told the jury when her body was lifted flies were disturbed and there were maggots on the bed.

"There was a strong smell of ammonia and faeces. It was very unpleasant. It made me feel physically sick."

The trial continues.